On Tuesday, the residents met with commissioners at the request of Union Township resident Leslie Herro who asked the commissioners to work with their group to have the village of Hebron conform its boundaries, which means removing itself from the township.

"If they conform, it will compel (Hebron) to lower the tax rates of their residents and operate the fire department within their means rather than fund it on the backs of non-residents," Herro told the commissioners.

In recent months, Hebron Village Council and Union Township Trustees hired an attorney at $1,000 each to draft a resolution to form the fire district, which is tentatively named the Refugee-Canyon Fire District.

While discussions of a potential fire district have been ongoing between the two for decades, Union Township Trustees began to pursue it more earnestly last year in an effort to improve response times to areas of the township.

In April, Union Township Trustee John Slater announced the board closed on a property on Ohio 37, which is intended to become a satellite fire station. Trustee Charlie Prince said the trustees expect to have the station fully operational for less than $500,000.

Union Township residents express concerns

On Tuesday afternoon, Union Township residents expressed concerns a fire district would eliminate any contract with Granville Township, which they felt would hurt their fire service. The group is also concerned Hebron and Union Township officials aren't being transparent enough, and a fire district wouldn't represent Hebron and Union Township equally.

"We believe that the trustees, particularly Trustee (Charlie) Prince, is creating an issue in order to change the way the tax revenues are distributed, basically moving money from the unincorporated into Hebron village," Herro said. "Also, we believe the trustees are planning on reducing or eliminating Granville fire station’s services, which would significantly impact the areas of Union Township north of the railroad tracks."

Prince attended the meeting, but did not respond.

Amy Deeds, a Union Township resident, said in the last year she's attended meetings, she hasn't seen a single person appear in support of the fire district.

"Our biggest concern is that all of these proposals for the fire district leave us without coverage and it really is physically impossible for them to guarantee, in the case of an emergency there’s not going to be a train crossing the tracks,” Deeds said.

Echoing others' fear of lacking representation, Union Township resident Mike Bishop said if Union Township is trying to represent Hebron residents and those who live in the unincorporated areas of Union Township, then Hebron is being doubly represented by the trustees and village council.

Proposed funding

In April, Granville Township Fire Chief Casey Curtis presented a scenario where Granville could service and staff the new substation for between 4.3 to 4.9 mills. Under that scenario, Curtis argued Union Township could have more control over fire service and it would improve response times.

Prince argued Curtis' plan would cut funding to Hebron, which he said currently covers 80 percent of Union Township's runs.

At a fire district meeting on May 2, Hebron Fire Chief Clifford Mason proposed his department could staff both the Hebron fire station and the satellite station for about 9 mills. Under his staffing model, the main station would have one full-time and four part-time firefighter/EMTs, a fire chief and a captain. The satellite station would house one full-time and one part-time firefighter/EMTs.

Herro and others indicated they were concerned Mason's model didn't provide any money to Granville Township for fire service.

Conforming boundaries issue

Although the group of Union Township residents sought help from the commissioners, they weren't able to offer much advice.

"The decision to conform the boundaries is ultimately a decision by the residents of Hebron," Commissioner Tim Bubb said. "That would seem like the most likely group because they could argue they're being doubly taxed at this point."

They suggested the group obtain legal advice about their options and have a public meeting in Hebron so Hebron residents could hear discussions about the proposed fire district.

According to Hebron Mayor Mike McFarland, the village is aware Hebron can leave the township, but there are no plans in place to do that.

"We may discuss it in the next couple of months, but the council’s very aware of how that works and what goes on and how you do it," McFarland said. "We are hoping to be able to form a fire district where we will be able to have everyone in the township, including Hebron, pay the same rate for fire and EMS service..."

If the fire district fails to happen, McFarland said the village seems to have an obligation to Hebron residents to get their fire service taxes lowered.

"The way to do that is you conform the boundaries and get out of Union Township," McFarland said. "We have enjoyed a good relationship with them for a long time and it’s nothing personal, however, we do believe that as we go forward and budgets increase for fire and EMS service, the cost of that should be spread across equally across Union Township."